SIDENOTE: all in a day's work

• My new mouse pad smells toxic.  If my job wasn't killing me before, my office supplies are now.
• I'm not a political person.  It's unfortunate that I just can't get myself to be interested, despite how important I know it is and how it goes on to affect me.  You know what affects me?  All these damn random phone calls from North Dakota and Montana area codes telling me how awful the opposing candidates are.  Calls that come about two to three times a day and leave me pre-recorded, "approved by" messages. Naive and vain as it sounds ... politics are affecting my AT&T minutes.
• You know what gets me through the day?  Email chains.  Email chains from funny people. Professionals at work that take a hot second to send a note or a well thought out powerpoint presentation.  Like Carlyn, a government worker, who turned this morning's emails into a fun guessing game.  She sent a note to a select group with this photo, offered $20 to the person who guessed what it was first and asked us to send through our answers.  Go on, give it a try ... 

What'd you go with?  Guesses - from other offices and cubicles around the country  - included two aliens about to bone, cleavage from an Octoberfesh frock and a garter belt on a man.   Hey, it was just Halloween right? She wasn't up for clues, but did inform us that the photo was taken at the "Rally for a Reason" in DC this weekend.

Promising to send through the answer by 5:00 p.m., she couldn't wait any longer for the big reveal and distributed the following in (albeit sloppy and not work-appropriate) ppt format.  

This lady has got some reason, and Carlyn clearly has some free (and much appreciated) time on her hands [says the girl who just blogged about this from her office].  And there you go folks.  America, your tax dollars hard at work and the small good deeds that allow me to get through an otherwise uneventful Monday at the office.

Thanks for playing.

-HMOH